Knollwood Apartments - a Western Michigan University tradition - get a new look

The complex advertises stainless-steel appliances, hardwood floors, a community pool, walk-in closets, tanning beds, an indoor basketball court and other resort-style amenities. This isn't their parents' Knollwood Apartments. Many a Western Michigan University Bronco has gone through Knollwood Apartments during the past several decades, a complex notorious for parties and, in its latter years, a well-used look.

Jill McLane Baker / Kalamazoo Gazette

Evan Gainey, left, and Marko Ulaj, both Western Michigan University seniors, talk recently about their new apartments at Knollwood .

"When are they going to knock them down?" was the impression the old complex left on WMU senior Bridget Curcuri. But when it became Campus Court at Knollwood this year, Curcuri was one of the hundreds enticed by Kalamazoo's newest complex geared for students. "It was the word going around campus," said Marko Ulaj, a senior finance major, who with several friends moved to Campus Court, tucked back at the end of Knollwood Avenue, southwest of the university's main campus. Students began occupying the place in August and just about all the apartments are leased. Some construction is continuing, such as porches and exterior stairways. "We had a lot of parents moving their kids in who lived there themselves," said Therese Cochran, investment manager for Pinnacle and American Management Services Co., which manages the complex and others. Cochran said the elder Broncos were commenting on how "'it didn't look anything like this when I lived here.' Really great reactions. It's pretty funny." The buildings in this complex, with their fresh taupe siding and some with brick facades, pristine white window sills and railings, bear no resemblance to drab brown siding that once was there. The old complex was razed last year. "Party Central" is how Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Lt. Jon Uribe described the complex's reputation. The apartments are in the Lafayette Street area that, in the past, has been marred by rioting. "It was a gathering place for people who shared a common interest -- i.e., partying," Uribe said. This version of Knollwood is picking up on what's been a nationwide trend of offering amenity-enhanced housing to students who live off campus. The vision was to "offer a high-end student apartment complex that had amenities that would make it a more desirable place to live," Cochran said. During the past 10 years, student-geared, luxury complexes have been built in the Kalamazoo area. Before Campus Court at Knollwood, the newest large complex was Copper Beech, on KL Avenue in Oshtemo Township. "That was last year's big hurrah that everyone wanted to move into," said Ally Scott, a WMU senior, who lives in a four-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath townhome at Campus Court. When a new complex comes on the market, "everyone really gets hyped about it," said Scott, a sales and marketing major. The complex's location -- a five- to 10-minute walk to Western -- is one of its benefits, Curcuri said. "This is close to campus. The bars that we go to are in walking distance. It's safe," Curcuri said. Other complexes that have opened in recent years include the one next to Copper Beech, The Point at Western on KL Avenue, and The Centre at Drake Road and Croyden Avenue. "What we've seen is a competition for quality," said Jeff Chamberlain, the city of Kalamazoo's planning and community development director. "Each apartment tries to outdo the last one, and that can be a positive thing and that forces the older apartment complexes to hopefully raise the standards to remain competitive."